Rajeev Khandelwal: I don’t want to get lost in the crowd

The Shaitan actor believes he has made his place in the industry

Rajeev Khandelwal, who made an unconventional Bollywood debut with Aamir, says he likes to choose different movies and does not want to get lost in the crowd.“I don’t know whether it is unique (my place in the industry), but I know that I have made a place for myself in the industry. I feel there should be different actors for different kind of films and I am glad about the films that I have done,” says Rajeev. ‘I don’t want to get lost in the crowd and do things just because they are the flavour right now,” he added.

Khandelwal started his showbiz tryst with the small screen in shows like Kahiin To Hoga and Left Right Left, and became a household name. He entered films in 2008 with Aamir – story of a young Muslim man who returns to Mumbai from Britain and finds himself at the mercy of Islamic extremists.

Thereafter, he has featured in movies like Shaitan, Soundtrack and Will You Marry Me? – all diametrically different films. “I have been trying different kinds of things. (But) Just because I haven’t tried my hand at a typical romantic film or something like that, doesn’t mean that I am not experimenting. Soundtrack was different from Shaitan, which was different from Aamir. It’s about being a part of films which have a shelf life,” Rajeev said.

Rajeev will be seen next in Table No.21with Tena Desae and veteran actor Paresh Rawal. It’s a different film too, he assures. “This film is completely different. It will showcase a lot more variety in one film. Every character has a lot of layers in this film, and it will not be reminiscent of all the films which I have done. I hope people like it,” he said.

He hopes the movie reaches out to the audiences in small towns. “I hope this reaches out to more people who missed out on watching a few films of mine because they were not released in small cities. The expectations are huge. This is the first film of 2013 and I hope it opens the year with a bang for the film industry,” he said.